Sustainability

Palo Alto has long been a leader in sustainability, making impressive - and in some cases remarkable - progress toward reducing its carbon impacts, greenhouse gas emissions, and resource consumption since establishing its first Climate Protection Plan in 2007.

Sustainability is based on a simple principle: Everything that we need for our survival and well-being depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural environment. Sustainability is the capacity to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well-being while addressing the "Three E's" - economy, environment and social equity.

The City has undertaken a wide range of initiatives to improve the sustainability performance of both government operations and the community at large - including approving a Sustainability and Climate Action Plan - and offers a wide variety of programs that may help you take actions enhance your own sustainability efforts.